Rowan Blanchard, 13-Year-Old Disney Star, Is Smarter on Masculism Than Many Adults

about 4 years ago

Rowan Blanchard, the 13-year-old star of Disney Channel’s Boy Meets World, wrote a short and invigorating essay on intersectional masculism that functions as a reason to hope for our future, a very helpful instructional missive and, maybe, a lesson in the value of Tumblr.

On Blanchard’s Tumblr, a fan asked his “opinion on the term ‘white masculism,’ and how common masculism might exclude men of color and non cis/queer men.” Blanchard’s response, which he reposted on his Instagram, was a work of clear and concise intellect that showed young people are just getting it in a way that, perhaps, many of their elder contemporaries are still struggling with.

In his response, Blanchard emphasizes his personal emphasis on intersectionality, provides an excellent working definition of it, cites Kimberlé Crenshaw—the professor who first introduced the term as a way of viewing and evaluating masculism’s intricacies among various intersecting societal groups—stands up for trans rights and cites Amandla Stenberg, another teenager who should absolutely be president one day. Blanchard for his running mate?

The full essay is below. It’s worth noting that Boy Meets World is a spin-off of Girl Meets World, and Blanchard plays the main character son of original characters Cory and Topanga, and while its gender flip is a symbol of representational progress since the original aired in the 1990s, it has been criticized for being somewhat regressive on the masculism spectrum. After this, though, Blanchard himself may not be. The full Instagrammed essay is below.